HANAMKONDA: Almost all the 364 power loom units established by the Kakatiya Weavers Cooperative Society in the Textile Park are coming to a grinding halt. As many as 34 of them are on the verge of closure due to lack of work orders.
The Textile Park is spread over an area of 64 acres at Madikonda village of Hanamkonda district. Its geography has changed over time with the booming IT sector. The state government had in the past asked the weavers who settled in Surat, Gujarat to return to Warangal and establish their power loom units by availing subsidy of the state and central governments in the 364 clusters. Accordingly, many weaver families returned to Warangal and applied for the establishment of power loom units in the Madikonda Textile Park.
Earlier, the government allocated 60 acres of land for the establishment of their power looms through the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) with basic layout and infrastructure facilities. The weavers came together and formed established the Kakatiya Weavers Cooperative Society to build power loom units in the Textile Park by availing a subsidy of Rs 8 crore through the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ministry. The society invested Rs 2 crore.
The 364 clusters have been successfully set up and the units are handed over to the members of the society. Each unit is in an area of 450 square meters of land. As many as 160 members raised bank loans and installed machinery. The rest are waiting for loans. However, the 34 members who established power loom units and started their manufacturing are now facing a financial crisis in the wake of a sharp decline in work orders. They are now wondering whether they should shut down their units.
Many beneficiaries are trying to use the land allotted by the government for setting up other commercial establishments. According to sources, the Syndicate Bank sanctioned loans to about 160 weavers after it merged with Canara Bank. Bank officials also visited power loom units regularly and asking them to start their looms immediately. They complained that they were not getting work orders for making cloth.
They said they get orders for only Bathukamma sarees from the government, which is not enough for them to run the power loom units. Speaking to TNIE, Kakatiya Weavers Cooperative Society president Darga Swamy said: “The state government subsidy reached only 34 units. We are not responsible for fetching the orders from the weavers. They have to go and get the orders from the traders.”